The Department of Immunology and Microbiology Diversity and Inclusion Policy statement represents our work toward balancing gender, ethnic, and racial composition of all Departmental groups and committees.
1) Balance in Committee Composition Committees should reflect the gender, racial, and ethnic distribution within the department, with the aim to achieve a gender and diversity balance in line with our campus and community. Committees will strive for a balanced representation from groups under-represented in academic medicine, while also avoiding over-taxing these individuals within our limited pool of potential under-represented members. Committees will include a student or post-doctoral trainee as relevant and appropriate. All faculty and all standing committee members will complete training in diversity, equity, inclusion and advocacy through the online CU SOM Diversity training.
2) Communication and Transparency This policy and the composition of all Immunology and Microbiology Department committees will be posted on the department website and circulated to all committee chairs. Departmental policies will comply with CU Anschutz institutional policies on equity and inclusion practices. Standing and new committee composition will be reviewed yearly. Posted information for all Department-level committees will include, at a minimum: contact information for the Chair / Co-Chairs, committee composition, and duration of committee member service (year and term).
3) Implementation a. Each Committee Chair will act as the Equity Advocate, or will name one individual from the committee to act as the Equity Advocate. The Equity Advocate is responsible for raising and reviewing any diversity and inclusion points before conclusion of each meeting and to ensure appropriate gender, racial, and ethnic makeup of the committee and any attendant plans/activities/events. Where balanced representation is not available, the Committee may seek to a) expand the committee, b) seek ad hoc members or consultants from an appropriate underrepresented group outside the Department, and c) reassign members to achieve balance. b. Every effort will be made to arrange for committee meetings at times that will not disadvantage or preclude the participation of people with primary caregiving responsibilities or who are working part-time. c. The Committee Chair and/or Equity Advocate on each committee will conduct an annual scan of committee membership, and will be reviewed by the Department Chair and Vice-chair.
d. Members will complete the SOM self-paced online courses on bias and diversity, and submit a completion certificate to the committee Chair or diversity advocate within 6 months of initial appointment to the committee. Foundations of bias in-person workshop run by Dr. Sonia Flores will be made available on a yearly basis and dates will be published online. Committee chairs will complete a yearly compliance checklist to track progress and compliance with the stated policy.
4) Search Committees a. All search committee members, including the Chair / Co-Chair(s), must complete Search Committee Training: Recruiting Diverse Talent to the University (Skillsoft search criteria: Search Committee) as specified by University of Colorado rules. b. Committee will access and use a recruitment toolkit with methodology on how to create a neutral and unbiased job description, evaluating applications with nontraditional components and a list of interview questions. Committee will make use of resources found in the ASM Guide to Minority Professor Hires. Committee may use programs that scan Department documents, such as job postings and search committee charges, for evidence of biased language: http://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com - https://textio.com.
c. Job postings will request that applicants provide a statement on their philosophy on equity and diversity, akin to a teaching statement. d. A report of the entire process, with a focus on how applicants were invited and selected, will be generated and submitted for review by the Department Chair and Vice-chair. This report will include a written statement of justification if one of the finalists is not a woman or under-represented minority, and if applicant diversity is not achieved, the committee chair will provide documentation of the process used to identify candidates.
*As of November 2020, the Immunology and Microbiology Department faculty is composed of 45% women and 9% URM. Additional updates to include research assistants, administrative staff, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows is being aggregated, and will be completed in early 2021. **URM (under-represented minorities in medicine) are those under-represented in science and medicine as defined by the National Science Foundation as well as by CU, including: Hispanics, African Americans, Native Americans, Native Pacific Islanders and Eskimo, Vietnamese, Fillipino, African, differently abled people and any other protected class category deemed under-represented by CU.
Drafted by: Linda van Dyk, with the Immunology and Microbiology Department Strategic Planning Committee, November 2020
Policy Approved: Department of Immunology and Microbiology Faculty: Dec 3, 2020
Diversity and Inclusion Policy 2020
